Galehaut obeyed, holding Lancelot in place easily as he drove into him over and over, splitting him wide, fucking him so deep Lancelot could practically fucking taste it, leaving him overheated, overstimulated, overcome with it all.This man he'd watched die once, then lost to Maleagant before he ever awoke, then had to kill in the way he feared the most.Tears streamed down his face from too much all at once from every direction, but he only clung tightly and begged for more, until a hand stroked his cock, and he came apart at the seams screaming Galehaut's name.
He was still struggling to get his breath back a few minutes later when Galehaut finally came inside him.Lancelot whimpered slightly as Galehaut carefully pulled out of him, though it was more from the emptiness than the discomfort.
Galehaut climbed from the bed and returned with a rag to clean him up, then built up the fire a bit more before climbing back into bed and pulling the heavy blankets up over them."Get some more rest.I know I've probably overtaxed you."
"Worth it," Lancelot said, even as he drifted back to sleep, lulled by the steady beat of Galehaut's heart.
When he woke again, the sun was up, and he'd barely managed to say good morning before Galehaut had him on all fours and was taking him with greedy abandon.Lancelot screamed loud enough they probably heard him in the castle.
Once he could move again, they washed up in the lake before dressing.When Lancelot started to pack away their little campsite though, Galehaut pulled him away."We're expected.I've kept you from our friends long enough.They're starting to get annoyed with me."
Lancelot laughed, but he was eager to see them too, after all they'd suffered together to finally achieve this victory.
Rather than the side door, though, Galehaut insisted on taking him around to the main entrance, where the doors were propped wide open—a sign of peace, which made him want to laugh and cry all over again.Peace at last, because against all odds, they'd defeated Maleagant.
As they stepped into the great hall, the low lighting turned bright, and suddenly there were scores of people cheering and clapping, banners and confetti and balloons everywhere.Everyone was dressed in court finery, which made Lancelot feel foolish, until he remembered how quickly and easily he could change clothes here.
"What is all this about?"he asked."I thought you were celebrating last night."
"That was to welcome newcomers to Camelot," Arthur said, descending from his throne to hug Lancelot tightly."Today we at last celebrate the Prince of Tides who saved us all."He rested his hands on Lancelot's shoulders, then kissed his cheeks."Come, there is much to discuss, but first we celebrate."
He'd scarcely stepped away when Merlin surged in to hug him tightly."Stupid bastard, can't believe we almost lost you."
"I would never make your life that easy," Lancelot replied.
After that, it was chaos as everyone came to hug him, greet him, followed by a flurry of new people who all looked at him in a way he did not understand at all.Then there was food and dancing, all kinds of performances, and it was so much like the old days before everything went horribly wrong that it almost hurt.
Except that now they had new days of peace, and nothing to worry about for some time, per the assurances of the Lady of the Lake herself.
Looking back, he really should have known Galehaut was alive because his mother had not offered condolences on his passing.
Hours later, as dark began to fall and everyone ambled away exhausted to find their beds, Lancelot gathered with the rest of the inner circle in the middle of the great hall.The dregs of revelry had been cleared away, the great hall its normal self once more, the lights softened.
"All right, before we get to the bad news you clearly need to tell me, I have this," Lancelot said, pulling Maleagant's skull, meticulously picked clean by the lake inhabitants and left pristine, even the lower jaw secured in place.
Morgan's face lit up and she immediately swooped in to take it."Mine."
Arthur chuckled fondly."That went exactly as I predicted.When we couldn't find it, I had a feeling you'd chucked it in the lake.It's yours by right of combat."
"I don't want it," Lancelot said.
"Good because I'm not giving it back," Morgan said gleefully, admiring it with bright, avid eyes before sending it to her inventory.
Lancelot turned to face Merlin straight on, with Galehaut on his right and Kay on his left."So what is the bad news you have to tell me?"
"The price we must pay for the spell we cast, the favor we asked of the magic," Merlin said.
Lancelot drew himself up and took a deep breath."What is it?"
"We are bound here, to the pocket universe, forever.We cannot leave it.Maleagant sought to control it, make it his, and to truly anchor it so that it cannot be destroyed, he was going to sacrifice the sixteen of us here, though he thought he only needed fifteen.But for us, the requirement is the two of us, living anchors to protect and watch over it for as long as it exists."
"So we can't return to the real world with everyone else," Lancelot said.Galehaut, Arthur, everyone else could leave, come and go as they pleased.Whatever they did out there, he would never be able to help.He would always have to wait and hope for Galehaut to return to him after battles he could never join."We have to sit here useless, whatever happens out there."
"Not useless, never," Arthur said."Camelot is important, as it has always been.Already we've welcomed a couple hundred refugees, people who would not have lasted out there much longer.Elderly who spent their lives slaves of the duchies and are thriving on this second chance.Camelot is a way to access other places, get to them in ways we couldn't otherwise.An intersection of vital importance, a sanctuary.Its protection is vital."
"I'm sure we'll find other ways for you to help, even ways for you to rejoin us out there in some fashion, if not in living flesh," Morgan said."The Knights of the Round Table would be nothing without our Prince of Tides."
"Who has surrendered so much simply to side with us," Guinevere said."You and you alone won that final fight against Maleagant.We would not be here without you and Kay, who ran when it was hardest to do precisely that, and broke us free while you fought.We can never repay what the two of you did."
